Ethnicity in Zimbabwe

Transformations in Kalanga & Ndebele Societies, 1860-1990

Synopsis

Ethnicity in Zimbabwe: Transformations in Kalanga and Ndebele Societies, 1860-1990 is a comparative study of identity shifts in two large ethnic groups in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. The study begins in 1860, a year after the establishment of the Inyati mission station in the Ndebele Kingdom, and ends in the postcolonial period. The book ultimately demonstrates the ways in which debates around ethnicity and other identities in Zimbabwe-and in Matabeleland in particular-relate to wider issues in both rural and urban Zimbabwe past and present.

Review

[The book] makes valuable contributions to Zimbabwean social and political history. Scrupulously researched, drawing from pre-colonial primary sources and oral histories. - Timothy Stapleton, professor of history, Trent University

Author

Dr Enocent Msindo, was born in Zimbabwe, got his PhD at Cambridge University and is now a Senior Lecturer in African History at Rhodes University, South Africa.